The House Of The Shadows
by TheChildOfTheTardis
Summary: This is my first fan fiction. The 10th Doctor and Martha have been dragged off course to a village where a girl has gone missing days earlier. They discover that the Vashta Nerada are at large in the local abandoned house. But can the Doctor and Martha really defeat the monsters in the dark? Please review and let me know how you think I'm doing.
1. Chapter 1

The House Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 1

Elisabeth Gail was late. She was too late to be able to return home. Wait until the morning then say you stayed with a friend last night she thought. But that meant she needed somewhere to spend tonight. Of course Lester Collins the old abandoned house no one ever went there she could spend the night there and go home in the morning. At 11:00PM the residents of Oak Road reported hearing a scream coming from Lester Collins. But when the the police arrived they didn't find any trace of Elisabeth just a skeleton that had been stripped clean of all flesh...

The following day on Oak Road an unearthly wind blew up as the Tardis materialised into being with its usual fanfare. Out of the Police Box walked a tall skinny man with manic gelled hair in a blue suit and converse trainers. He was joined by his travelling companion a young black woman in her twenties wearing a red leather jacket and jeans.

"Ok Doctor you can now stop being all mysterious and tell me where we've landed?" asked Martha.

"I'm not sure. We were dragged of course by something powerful. Wherever we are there's something weird about this place." said the Doctor doing his best to hide just how clueless he was and failing.

"Well Doctor lets find out what your weird powerful thing is shall we?"

The Doctor and Martha had been searching for the best part of an hour to try and find the whatever had dragged them off course with no luck. Martha was beginning to give up home when she noticed the headline of the local paper. ELISABETH GAIL MYSTERY DEEPENS said the headline of the paper Martha read the article and discovered that a girl had gone missing after not returning home from a night out. But what really interested Martha was that a mysterious scream had been heard from Lester Collins shortly after Elisabeth was last seen. "Well" thought Martha "If we can't find what's dragged us off course we can still solve this mystery"

Martha ran to where the Doctor was standing to let him know about her mystery. He was scanning the village with his Sonic Screwdriver to track what had dragged them off course. He noticed Martha coming towards him

"Its definitely gone Martha looks like it was only brief. Whatever dragged us off course did do deliberately and quickly then vanished." Martha took this opportunity to tell the Doctor about what she had just read in the paper.

"Well..." said the Doctor "If we cant find why we landed here we can at least find out what happened to Elisabeth. Tonight we'll go to Lester Collins. But first we'll go back to the Tardis so you can get some sleep." Martha raised an eyebrow at his last remark. The Doctor noticed this so added "It could be an all nighter"


	2. Chapter 2

The House Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 2

Martha had followed the Doctors advice and gone back to the Tardis whilst the Doctor set up base at Lester Collins. When Martha woke up she made her way to Lester Collins to see how the Doctor had been getting on. The Doctor had spent his day preparing the old house for an all night investigation. Gravity globes had been attached to many of the ceilings so that they could see what was going on. The Doctor had even brought a picnic basket so that Martha didn't get hungry as he knew only to well that an army marches on its stomach. Overall Martha was very impressed with the Doctors efforts.

It was fairly uneventful for most of the evening. The Doctor was trying to fix or build some sort of device which Martha didn't understand. Whilst Martha used the time to catch up on some reading. At around 9:30 one of the gravity globes had gone out. Martha noticed this and went to tell the Doctor. He scanned the globe but discovered that it hadn't powered down. It had been disconnected... But the Doctor just dismissed this as he hadn't wired it up properly.

The next unusual occurrence happened around 10:00. Martha was feeling a bit hungry so decided to help herself to a sandwich from the picnic basket (which was bigger on the inside). She noticed that the Doctor hadn't packed any meat in the basket. Martha thought for a minute the Doctor knew she wasn't a vegetarian and she also knew that he usually had a chicken salad on picnics. So why was there no meat in the basket. When Martha got back to the Doctor she mentioned this.

"But Martha I did pack a chicken salad and I definitely remember putting in some Tuna sandwiches." The Doctor said more than a bit defensive.

"Well their not there now look." said Martha as she took the basket over to the Doctor for him to have a look.

"Ok Martha you're right their not there now. But I definitely packed them earlier."

"And your sure you haven't eat them yet'

"Yes!" said the Doctor beginning to get a bit impatient.

"In that case where have they gone" asked Martha beginning to get worried.

The Doctor scanned the room with the Sonic Screwdriver.

"Martha" he said "I think we've made a terrible mistake coming here"

"Why?" asked Martha.

"We should never have come up here because in doing so we've just walked into a swarm of Vashta Nerada"

"And what's a Vashta Nerada Doctor?"

"A living carnivorous shadow. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up..."


	3. Chapter 3

The House Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 3

The Doctor suggested that he and Martha move to the centre of the room underneath the gravity globe. to stay in the light whilst they tried to work out an escape plan. Martha took this opportunity to ask the Doctor a few questions.

"So was it a Vashta Nerada that killed that girl Elizabeth Gail?" asked Martha.

"Most likely" replied the Doctor.

They looked over to the doorway and saw that it was now totally pitch black.

"Where do the Vashta Nerada originate from Doctor?"

"Vashta Nerada can be found on any world where there's meat"

"Even Earth?'

"Even Earth. But the thing I don't understand is normally on Earth they are only found in small numbers. Harmless and benign they usually just live of road kill. So how come a swarm of aggressive Vastra Nerada are inhabiting this house?" said the Doctor getting frustrated by his lack of knowledge about the situation.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to brighten the strength of the gravity globe hoping to use it to keep the Vashta Nerada at away from them. Then he realised something...

"Of course!" shouted the Doctor.

"Of course what?" asked Martha confused by the Doctors outburst.

"I think I've figured out why a swarm of aggressive Vashta Nerada are in inhabiting this house. Vashta Nerada spores grow in certain types of trees. When they get old enough the spores get released. Well on some worlds entire forests are filled with Vashta Nerada swarms. What if the wood that this house is made from is actually not from earth but from a Vashta Nerada forest..."

In that case did the being who made this house not know the wood was infested or did they build the house because the wood was infested wondered Martha.

"So if this house was deliberately made by an alien to be infested with Vashta Nerada then what if they left some of their technology behind?" Martha asked.

The Doctor did a scan for alien technology with his Screwdriver and got a faint trace of something from one of the upper floors or possibly the attic.

"Martha Jones I think you may have just found away for us to banish the Vashta Nerada and escape from this house!"

Armed with a Sonic Screwdriver, a dimensionally transcendental picnic basket, the sonically boosted gravity globe and the device the Doctor had been working on earlier. The Doctor and Martha proceeded to make their way through the house and up to the attic to find out what the alien tech was and if it could really help them with their current predicament.

The journey was very intense in the total darkness surrounded by an army of carnivorous shadows protected by a sphere of light that only just covered both of them. In the ground floor hallway Martha was sure she saw a something shift. On the second floor landing the Doctor was sure he could hear them breathing or maybe it was laughing... Eventually they managed to make it to the attic in one piece but both shaken by their experience along the way.

The only way into the attic was through a small trapdoor that was out of reach of both the Doctor and Martha. Neither of them even came close enough to be able to clamber into the door. The Doctor was just able to nudge the door open a little with alot of stretching and balancing so that if they were able to get onto the roof they could make it into the attic.

"Its no use Martha we just cant make it into the attic."

"But Doctor we have to that equipment could be our only change of survival and could help us stop other people falling victim to the Vashta Nerada."

"Well their is one way we might be able to make it up too the attic."

"What is it?" interrupted Martha eager to hear the Doctors solution.

"It's incredibly risky, dangerous and just a little stupid."

"What is it?" repeated Martha.

"We destroy the gravity globe. The updraft created by destroying the globe should be more than enough to get us safely into the attic but that will also mean that we lose our main light source leaving us open the Vashta Nerada."

"Doctor we don't have any other option we have to at least attempt it."

"OK Martha Jones I'm going to destroy it now."

The Doctor shattered the globe and plunged himself and Martha into total darkness...

**Hope everyone is enjoying the story. Please review to let me know how I'm doing all reviews gratefuly received.**


	4. Chapter 4

The House Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 4

Martha opened her eyes she was badly bruised and lying on some rough wooden planks.

"Doctor are you their? Are we still alive?" she asked feeling slightly stupid about asking that last question.

"Of course we are Martha Jones. Do you really think I'd let an angry Vashta Nerada swarm kill you?"

Martha decided not to answer that question. Instead she asked "Why didn't the Vashta Nerada kill us in the total darkness?"

"Well we have my device to thank for that. When I shattered the globe the updraft was enough to pull us into the attic. But whilst we where in the total darkness my device kicked in and created a force field around us to keep the Vashta Nerada at bay."

"But how did the force field know to protect us?"

"We have the picnic basket to thank for that. The device was in the basket and the basket isn't just dimensionally transcendental it's connected to the Tardis. Because the Tardis is telepathic she knew to protect us and thats how the force field knew to protect us. Simple really!"

Martha thought it was anything but simple but she was too happy to be alive to ask for further explanations.

One thing still confused Martha that the Doctor hadn't explained so she asked "Hang on Doctor if you shattered the gravity globe then how come we can still see?"

"In a mood for questions aren't Martha Jones. The answer to that question is look behind you."

Martha turned around slowly not sure what to expect. However she wasn't expecting to see a regular 21st century computer connected via a mass of tangled wires and cables to a dull grey cube with what looked liked a satellite dish coming out of its top.

"So was the trace of alien tech only fainted because this is largely Earth technology" asked Martha feeling quite proud of her deduction.

"Most likely" said the Doctor. Martha noticed he had a grave tone in his voice.

The Doctor realised Martha had noticed his tone so decided to explain to Martha.

"That cube is a Gallifreyan device called a Time Transmitter. The Timelords used them to record events in various time zones whilst they stayed on Galifrey observing them."

Martha now realised why the Doctor had used that tone because the time transmitter meant there was another Timelord around. But wasn't that a good thing if there was another Timelord? Martha decided to ask.

"But isn't this good news. Doesn't this meant you're not the last Timelord anymore?"

"No Martha it doesn't mean there is another Timelord. Because when the Timelords used the Time Transmitters they mostly just left them in the field and then the locals would steal them. This doesn't mean there is another Timelord this means someone's abusing the legacy of the Timelords and it's my job to stop them."

Martha saw a new determined look in his eyes. It showed that he was going to use the Transmitter to stop the Vashta Nerada. It showed that he was going to correct this insult to the legacy of the Timelords. And it showed that whoever had misused the Transmitter had just gained a powerful enemy.

**If you're feeling cheated after this chapter don't worry I will come back to why the Vashta Nerada are in the house in another story. As always please review! Thank you for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

The House Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 5

Martha now knew that the Doctor was going to be magnificent and save the day but one mystery still remained.

"Doctor surely whoever is using the Time Transmitter must want to record something because isn't that what the Transmitters were for?." asked Martha.

"Martha whoever is using it is insulting the legacy of the Timelord and that makes it very simple it means the only choice is to vanish the Vashta Nerada. Maybe then the legacy can be restored."

Martha had never seen the Doctor like this before it made her wonder what he would be like if they did actually ever met another Timelord and what the consequences would be...

"How do you plan to vanish the Vashta Nerada Doctor?"

"Well if I use the sonic screwdriver to boost the power of the Time Transmitter then hopefully I will be able to create a portal to send the Vashta Nerada directly into the Time Vortex to be disintegrated by the time winds."

Over the next half hour or so the Doctor busied himself rewiring the Time Transmitter, connecting it to the computer and other very clever technical stuff which Martha didn't understand. At last it looked as if the Doctor was nearing finishing. Martha took this opportunity to speak to the Doctor.

"Doctor whoever was using the Transmitter must have been using it deliberately. Why else would they connect it to an ordinary 21st century computer?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps they connected it to the computer to avoid me detecting. The computer is unable to give me an exact location it's transmitting to. It keeps shifting in the vortex meaning whoever is using it is time travel active an trying not to be detected."

Martha wondered about this. Could this house really be just a sick and twisted experiment? Had Elisabeth Gail just died for someone's experiment? Who had time travel and would be so stupid to do that the Daleks? the Cybermen? could it even be another Timelord after all? This worried Martha it meant once they left here it still wasn't over...

The Doctor had taken apart bits of the computer and connected them to the Time Transmitter. He was ready to activated his lash-up and send the Vashta Nerada into the Time Vortex to harmlessly disintegrate. He used the Sonic Screwdriver to activate it. Nothing Happened. He tried again. Still nothing happened. Martha noticed he was starting to get worried.

"What's gone wrong Doctor?" asked Martha sensing the growing concern.

"Its not working Martha. Its not working because we have the force field on."

"So Doctor switch it off!"

"Martha if we switch it off then that leaves us totally vulnerable to the Vashta Nerada. We could be killed in seconds."

"Doctor you have to do this. To save other people from being devoured by Vashta Nerada and to restore the legacy off the Timelords."

"Ok Martha I'm switching it off now."

The Doctor switched off the force field. Martha could feel the darkness closing in around her. The Doctor activated his lash-up. Martha could feel Vashta Nerada pressing against her jacket. The Doctor's lash-up had formed a rip in the wall of the house. Martha could feel the Vashta Nerada lifting off her back. Through the rip could be seen the raw power, force and energy of the Time Vortex. Martha risked turning round and saw very briefly the fabric of time and space. She thought she could see something in the Vortex like a Tardis but it wasn't a Police Box. The power of time and space was too much for Martha and she blacked out.

**I got writers block midway through writing this chapter so I'm not entirely happy with it.**


	6. Chapter 6

The House Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 6

Sometime later Martha came round in the Tardis console room. She saw the Doctor over the controls he noticed she'd woken up so decided to explain.

"Back in Lester Collins when you looked into the Time Vortex you passed out. Once all the Vashta Nerada had left the house I tided up and then brought you back here."

Martha decided this was the moment to tell the Doctor about what she'd seen.

"Doctor when I looked into the Vortex I think I saw something. I'm not sure what it was but it seemed like another Tardis."

The Doctor looked worried this was bad news.

"Martha when I sent the Vashta Nerada into the Vortex they didn't just go into the Vortex. Something powerful dragged them away and captured them. Maybe it was what you saw in the Vortex."

The mood darkened in the Tardis as the Doctor and Martha realised that things where not over yet.

"Doctor is it possible that we were dragged off course on purpose?"

"Its most likely. Somebody built Lester Collins to be infested with Vashta Nerada on purpose. They used the Time Transmitter to monitor it and they've now dragged the Vashta Nerada away and caught them."

Martha realised this was far from over. The Doctor had a meeting with a time traveller to come but in the mean time how about some more adventures thought Martha.

**This is the end of The House Of The Shadows I hope everyone enjoyed it. I will come back to all those unanswered questions as this is the first part in a Multi-Companion and Multi-Doctor trilogy. The next story is going to be called KRYNOS RISING and shall feature the 10th Doctor and Magenta Pryce (from the DWM comic strip.) Thanks once again to everyone who's read The House Of The Shadows and as always reviews are appreciated**


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